Dragon of Beauty
by The King in White
Summary: From the burning ruins of Konohagakure to the dirty streets of Denerim, Uchiha Sasuke was not the hero anyone would have expected. But he may be the one they need.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own either Naruto or the Dragon Age franchises, or anything pertaining to them.

(AN):

Hello my wonderful little readers. I have to admit that this basic sort of crossover plot has been picking at my brain for the last couple of months. But I, lazy bastard that I am, never really got around to actually WRITING anything.

In any case, here I am. May I present to you _**Dragon of Beauty**_, my first fanfiction dealing with either Naruto or Dragon Age.

I'll definitely try and plug away at this when I have the motivation to do so.

That being said, I'd really appreciate reviews to let me know how it's going.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"**Demons/Summons talking"**

'**Demons/Summons thinking'**

"Spells and Jutsus"

**This is Chapter 1 Version 2.0.**

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><p>Konoha <em>burned.<em>

Uchiha Sasuke stood on the carved stone head of the Yondaime Hokage, and held witness to the culmination of thirteen years of fallacious and _utterly useless_ vengeance. Sharingan spinning in his eyes, Sasuke committed every detail to the perfectly preserved memory granted by his doujutsu. There was no satisfaction at the sight, no joy or hatred or anger. Just a dry emptiness curling in his chest.

He wondered if Itachi had known it would come to this. _'Foolish otouto' _The Last Uchiha wistfully dredged up the faded memories of his childhood.

Perhaps he should have done what Itachi had always wanted him to do: Grow strong, avenge the clan, and _protect Konoha_. Maybe if he had done that Konohagakure would still be standing, and maybe Uzumaki Naruto would still be alive.

Maybe then it wouldn't be just him, standing alone in a wasteland as the reborn Juubi raged across the world. There were still some humans alive, cowering in the deepest regions of the wilderness to cling to whatever desperate existence they could have and pray the Juubi never found them.

Praying for a Rikudo Sennin to save them all with his legendary Rinnegan. A dark chuckle burbled through the Uchiha's throat. There were no more heroes to take up that role.

Sasuke closed his eyes, breath rushing from him in a gusty sigh. Hands brushing away the blood that had crusted around his eyelids, he wondered what Naruto would have done in this situation. A wry smirk curled his lips. The dobe would have undoubtedly gone toe-to-toe with the Juubi to save everyone without, shouting about his nindo to never give up and never go back on his word. He might have even won.

But Naruto was dead, Tobi dead by his hand, and Nagato dead several years past. The Kage perished in desperate last stands one by one as they tried to protect their villages. Orochimaru had been pinned to the wall of Ryuuchi Cave by Sasuke himself. Anyone who could have possibly tamed the Juubi was dead and dust.

There were no more heroes. Just one villain.

The only one left was Sasuke.

Mangekyo Sharingan.

He wondered if it would be enough.

Sasuke left the shattered husk of Konohagakure behind him when night fell. And with stars wheeling overhead and a sky conspicuously moon-free, he set out after the Jubi.

* * *

><p>He found it three and a half weeks later in the rain.<p>

Amegakure.

Fitting he supposed, that the birthplace of Nagato–_Pein_-'s mad plan to bring world peace through inflicting everyone with pain would be the last stand against the result of that plan.

Sasuke couldn't help but scoff with bitter amusement at the cloaked organization. Pain breeds hatred, and hatred breeds vengeance. No matter how long it would have taken, _somebody_ would have risen to cast down the Akatsuki.

The Senju clan ancestor had been right after all, those many years ago. Jiraiya was right. Naruto was right. It was perhaps a measure of his regret and resignation that Sasuke admitted he'd been wrong with only the barest twinge of childhood annoyance.

Peace was only obtainable when people would come to truly understand one another. Itachi most likely would have understood that, if his older brother hadn't known it already.

"Are you watching, aniki?" Sasuke whispered to the silence, voice slightly choked with remorse. "For the first time in my life, I'm going to do that right thing. I hope you'll forgive me for my stupidity". Feeling more than a little bit foolish and naively sentimental, he stepped out from the rock overhang that had been shielding him. Immediately he was soaked through to the skin. That didn't matter though.

He had an appointment with destiny.

"**So you finally decided to stop hiding little Uchiha. I must admit I'd thought you'd try to hide from me like the rest of this world's shit-stained rats." **The Jubi's voice reverberated in the air, and ten eyes spinning with ten tomoe came to rest on the Uchiha.

Sasuke couldn't help the breath that whooshed out of him or the abrupt pallor of his skin as he came face-to-face with the terrifying killer intent of the Bijuu. Then the Mangekyo flared in his eyes, and Sasuke _moved_.

Not a moment too soon, as one of the Bijuu's tails slammed into the ground where he had been standing. Deciding it would be far safer not to waste any time and just bring out his most powerful techniques against the demon, Sasuke's hands flashed through a series of seals before he pursed his lips.

"Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu!"

Realizing that the necessary storm conditions already existed, he turned his reflexive aim from the sky to the Juubi. Fire streamed out from his lips, and his will molded it into the shape of a very large, very angry dragon.

Launching off at the Jubi with a roar of rage, the dragon of fire slammed into the bijuu's side. Dissipating after the impact with the demon's skin, Sasuke could see his technique had caused barely a scratch in the beast's hide. The Jubi just snorted contemptuously, **"Is that all, little ningen? Such a weakling, I was hoping for a bit more fun… At least the suicidal Kage amused me by striving with everything they had to save as many people as possible before giving into despair when none escaped me."**

Sasuke just scowled, hands flying through a short second sequence, and with the sound of a thousand birds he cradled lightning in his palm. Raising his hand to the sky, he sent the electricity arcing up into the clouds that rained down on the two combatants.

One of the Jubi's tails swung back, prepared to squash the little insect and be done with it, before the roar of _something_ shook the air and distracted the beast. Tomoe studded eyes flicking towards the source of a sound, the beast's eyes widened involuntarily.

"**What!"**

"Raiton: Kirin!"

The Uchiha's lightning wreathed hand swung down abruptly, and with another roar of thunder, the beast of lightning lunged out of the clouds at the bijuu. White light flashed in his vision, and Sasuke shut his eyes against the glare. The Uchiha's eyes snapped open seconds later as the bijuu screeched in pain.

"**Damned human!" **

Smoke hissed off the Jubi's skin, revealing slivers of muscle of the bijuu's chest to the raven's sight. Not one to waste the chance given by his first possible real injury given to the demon, Sasuke's left eye blinked shut. Forcing chakra into his eyes, he let the pressure build behind his eye until he had enough for his next jutsu.

Blood crept out from underneath the closed lid, then the Uchiha's eye fluttered open and black flames lanced forward at the beast. "Amaterasu" he whispered, and watched as the greatest fire technique of the fallen shinobi world lit into the tailed beast's hide.

With another roar of pain, the bijuu lashed out. Tails crashed into the lake and tore down the mountains. Only with a series of acrobatic leaps that would put a circus performer to shame was Sasuke able to avoid being crushed beneath the flailing appendages. He continued to push the black flames into the demon until the strain became too much and he was forced to break off the technique. One hand clutched at the aching eye, shaking slightly as blood welled through his fingers.

There was no time for a breather though, and he brought his right eye to bear with a trickle of crimson and locked his gaze onto the Jubi's pain-maddened ten eyes. The world swirled away into black and white with a blood-red sky arching over a barren wasteland.

"Tsukiyomi"

In the illusory world over which he was king, an army of Sasukes sent waves of black flame and arcs of electricity into the Jubi, until with a roar of frustration and a flex of demonic chakra, the bijuu shattered the genjutsu.

Forced to clutch at his other eye as the backlash of the broken technique rebounded on him, Sasuke relinquished his left eye to squint at the world in a haze of blood and pain. It was this action that saved his life, as he only barely caught a glimpse of an incoming tail. Far too close to dodge. Forced to employ his third doujutsu, Sasuke attempted to ignore the pounding in his head and the way his eyes felt fit to explode.

The air around him burst with violet as a giant ghostly warrior shimmered into being and threw the Jubi's tail into the bijuu's face. With a gasp, Sasuke uttered "Susanoo" and panted for air, trying to get his bearings.

It was not enough. Snarling with rage, the bijuu launched all ten of its tails at the violet giant. Susanoo crumbled, and the Uchiha was lifted off his feet and launched through the air. Crashing down on the stone several yards away with a sickening crack, and rolling another few seconds until he ground to a stop in the mud, Sasuke lay still.

His chest was on fire, and every breath nearly brought him to crying out. _'Broken ribs' _he clinically thought, and attempted to sit up. Falling back with a gasp as pain flared in his chest, he blinked up at the sky. He could hear the bijuu growling and muttering as it took another few steps until it was within his field of vision.

Sneering at the fallen shinobi, the bijuu put off its vengeance to allow its prey to witness the demon's caustic chakra knitting its injuries back together until there was no evidence of a battle on the Juubi's hide.

"**Any last words?" **the Bijuu sarcastically sneered at him.

The Uchiha opened his mouth and uttered a final 'fuck you' to the demon, buying the last few seconds of extra time as he dove into his stolen final experimental technique. He'd only ever seen it performed, and had only ever attempted it half-heartedly on his spare time. But he pinned the last drops of his hope upon his family's unholy predilection for space-time ninjutsu.

His jaw snapped shut as he felt his vision changing, _distorting_. The feeling was only there a fleeting moment, but Sasuke seized on it with all the desperation of humanity's last chance.

The air tore and a black void pinched into existence. Eyes widening with recognition at the technique, Sasuke shoved every last drop of chakra he had into the technique. Bringing it to bear on the bijuu with a smirk of triumph, Sasuke heaved out a last hysterical laugh.

Victory from the very jaws of death indeed, he hoped.

With a shout of confusion and pain, the Jubi's midsection swirled around the hole in the very fabric of reality. Desperately the demon attempted to escape the technique, but found it extremely difficult to even move, much less escape the pull of the void.

For all the beast's monstrous power, the esoteric and complicated discipline of controlling space and time had never been on its' high priority list to develop.

"**What the hell did you do Uchiha?!"**

The bijuu demanded, its voice full of rage with the slightest hint of fear. The Uchiha just gave the demon a blood-stained grin. "Kamui." The bijuu let out one last booming scream of terror as it swirled out of existence. Feeling his control over the doujutsu slip, the raven smiled up at the sky through dimming vision. "So this is how it ends huh, Kaka-sensei?" he whispered.

"Sakura, Kakashi, Naruto, Aniki… I'm coming".

Then the space-time doujutsu was upon him, and there was no more time for words. Just pain as the technique tore into him. Mind rending agony that endured. And if Sasuke had any thought outside of the pain, he would've asked: "Why is it taking so damn long to die?"

Darkness took him.

* * *

><p>The sound of rustling leaves was the first thing that trickled into his mind. Then the chirping of birds and the smell of must. Then came the feeling of ground pressing into his back.<p>

Feeling?

His body exploded into agony and he was forced to take a shuddering gasp. _Everywhere_ hurt. His ribs were on fire, his head absolutely pounded, blood rushed through his ears and he was vaguely aware of the copper tang of blood on his tongue.

"What?" he croaked out, his mind blank. 'Why am I still alive? Or better yet, why would I be dead?' Uchiha Sasuke – his name.

Konoha. Itachi. Orochimaru. Madara. Uzumaki Naruto. _Jubi_.

Memories creeping back, he pried his eyelids open with a groan, breaking the crust of blood that had sealed them shut.

A thick canopy of leaves blocked the view of the sky from his sight. And it felt wrong. Not the lack of the sky, but the very forest itself. It felt tainted, '_Blighted' _some subconscious part of his mind whispered. Whatever it was, it felt very wrong and he needed to leave. He needed to _get out_.

Heaving to his feet, his body shrieked with pain and he stumbled against a tree for support. His tongue felt thick and his mouth dry behind his teeth.

"Oh ho ho! What do we have here?"

He whirled around, body protesting the move as he glared at the speaker. It was a very old, very gray haired woman. Someone's mother perhaps, he thought, but the air around her did not crackle with power and he felt slightly disgusted at having let a _civilian_ get the drop on him.

Sasuke opened his mouth to demand directions to get out of the woods, but clicked shut as he glanced at her eyes. Eyes that were amber and feral and _slitted_. Like Naruto's had been when he channeled that chakra of the Kyuubi. _Demon's eyes._

The raven's Sharingan blazed to life in preparation for battle. He had the chance to see one of her eyebrows quirk in what could be interest before the strain of already having overused his body slammed back into him, sending his mind tumbling away into darkness and his body crumpling to the ground.

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><p>(AN) So that's that. Drop me a line, tell me what you think. I hope that 2300 words was long enough for a first chapter.

(A/N 2.0) Well I must say that this was a surprise. I hadn't expected to touch _**Dragon of Beauty**_ before the end of the summer. But luckily for you if you were waiting for it, and unluckily for you if you're waiting for _**Chasing Yesterday**_, I've been on a Dragon Age binge the last few days and playing Awakening (Oddly, I've never beaten it. I've beaten everything else in the games, including DLC, but not Awakening) whenever I can get the time. I'll justify a few things here:

Mangekyo: Yes, Sasuke has it. The point of divergence for this story from canon is not entirely decided yet. I'll need to see how the next few chapter of the manga shape out. That being said, yes Sasuke has the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Yes it bleeds, but only because I like that particular visual, it doesn't mean anything. Or maybe it means a little when you consider this: The Sharingan are eyes, and are part of the body. I'm not sure what about the transplant makes them immune to damage, so for the purpose of this fic let's say that the eyes of another have a bit more resistance to one's chakra, so using techniques doesn't damage them like that. But they're body parts, they can be subject to strain and injury like anything else, which is what you can see from Sasuke's battle. I may edit out the bleeding for when he's _not_ straining his eyes, but let's consider the bleeding a mark of slow-the-fuck-down, m'kay? And the physical strain is the same.

Juubi's Dialogue: It was brought up that the original dialogue was a bit cartoon-villany. I did edit some of it, but I don't think it makes much of a difference, and that's fine. What we can see of the bijuus' personalities suggests extreme arrogance that makes such dialogue far more likely.

Updates: I did actually want to get the rewriting done today, but I need to go nap before I work the overnight. I'll see about getting another chapter or two out tomorrow. Once rewriting is done, we'll see what gets my attention after that.

Until Next Time, Matt.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I do not own either Naruto or the Dragon Age franchises, or anything pertaining to them.

Hello again guys! I must admit that I was pretty pleased to have four reviews in the space of less than twenty-four hours after putting up _**Dragon of Beauty**_ was pretty nice. Some big-shot authors might be all like "only four" but considering that I've only ever gotten like six reviews before on ONE fic over like four years, that's pretty damn good.

I'm going to see if I can get this up any time on the 21 of February in my time zone, but seriously, do not get used to it. I'm on spring break from university at the moment, so I have more free time than usual. That being said, I will sincerely try to get like five chapters done by the end of this week, but likely that will be it for the rest of the month.

I've been mulling over it for a little bit and decided that Sasuke is going to have some _linguistic _difficulties in Ferelden. Therefore:

"Talking in Ferelden/English" – They're like the same language.

"_Talking in Japanese"_

'_Thinking'_

"**Spells and Jutsus"**

**IF THE ARCHDEMON SPEAKS **(Not sure if he will speak, "The Calling" and whatnot if I decide to use it)

As a SERIOUS author's note you guys, you better be reading this legend prior to EVERY chapter because I'm prone to change it as I need to. There are no demons or summons in Ferelden, so I don't need to use the legend from chapter one for it anymore. This SHOULD be the legend though for the remainder of Sasuke's adventure(s?) in Thedas.

**This is Chapter 2 Version 2.0.**

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><p><em>He cradled a thousand birds in his palm.<em>

_The sky was dark, roiling clouds rumbled in from beyond the horizon, bringing with them the scent of rain. The barest rumble of thunder reached his ears, and he could feel the change of atmospheric pressure in his marrow._

_Uchiha Madara stood at his back, face carefully blank as he forced his right hand into the seal of confrontation. Across the river, an equally blank Senju Hashirama stared back, mimicking Madara's stance. Currents rushed between the two shinobi legends, brought tumbling down from the waterfall that had be carved by their ferocious and terrible battle for possession of the Kyuubi no kitsune._

_Thus they stood, immortalized in stone for more than a hundred years as the world turned and Konoha forgot the lessons of the past. The Uchiha clan burned with the Curse of Hatred on their lips and fire in their lungs, until at the very end when they sputtered into the cold dark at the hand of one of their own. Uchiha Sasuke was the last ember, flickering in the night, slowly and steadily cooling, until at last going out._

_He cradled a thousand birds in his palm._

_There was the boy, tattered orange jumpsuit clinging about his frame _but never quite letting go_. The jumpsuit was too much like the boy: thousand-birds thought, too bright and too happy and too hopeful and just _too determined._ The boy clutched a spiralling sphere in his taloned hand, face twisted in a rictus of pain and fury and determination. Whiskers slashed along his cheeks, blackened and swollen and _feral, _brought out by the red cloud surrounding him._

_He was using a dark and terrible power, it twisted and raged and _hungered_. A lesser man might have succumbed into becoming a beast. But the boy was too strong, he had bonds and precious people too protect and he would _never give up_. That was his nindo, and to keep the promise of a lifetime, he refused to allow his best friend-_rival-brother- _ to destroy himself._

_They lunged, feet slapping along the river's surface and splashing water about their antagonistic forms. They leapt, and with faces written with promise, brought the thousand birds and the spiralling sphere into most grievous contact. Frozen in the moment as chakra sputtered and shimmered purple into black._

_Bonds._

_Then the boy faltered because even as determined and convicted as he was, he could_ _not_ kill _his_ _friend and thousand-birds plunged a thousand birds into his chest. Skin and sinew gave way and burned, bone gave way and cracked and his hand ran through the boy's lung and tore out the boy's back. The boy's blood splattered his face and dyed his hand red._

_The boy's heart shivered a tremulous beat against his elbow._

_Thousand Birds screamed._

* * *

><p>"NARUTO!"<p>

Uchiha Sasuke leapt out of sleep, arm outstretched as he shot into a sitting position. His hand twisted into a claw, he shook with tension. Then he took a ragged breath and dropped his trembling limb into his lap before collapsing back into the bed. He was completely soaked in sweat he noted absently, before clamping down on his rampant emotions with a will of steel.

Heaving out a gusting sigh, Sasuke took stock of his surroundings.

Wooden beams held up a slanted ceiling, arched over painted walls and a wooden floor, all darkened with damp and age. The air felt slightly clammy, and smelled of must, mothballs, and '_food?' _His stomach rumbled on cue, and he turned his gaze to a bricked in fireplace with stew simmering in a ironclad pot.

Whoever had rescued him was most likely simply a concerned hunter or something similar, since this certainly didn't _look _like an interrogation cell and it didn't _feel _like a genjutsu and he was _pretty sure_ that he wasn't dead.

_His body exploded into agony and he was forced to take a shuddering gasp. __Everywhere__ hurt. His ribs were on fire, his head absolutely pounded, blood rushed through his ears and he was vaguely aware of the copper tang of blood on his tongue._

Sasuke blinked at the memory of his injuries. There was still an ache behind his eyes, overused ocular chakra coils likely being the cause, and he felt rather stiff. But his internal injuries were certainly healed and that meant that somebody had speed up the healing process. Somebody with _chakra_.

Eyes that were amber and feral and _slitted_ flashed through his mind.

So it was that old woman that had done this? He didn't doubt it, since she had appeared too interested in him to simply leave him on the forest floor for someone or something else to stumble upon him. Demons were ultimately self-serving he knew, and Sasuke hadn't survived where everyone else had _died _by being naïve and trusting.

Swinging his legs out of the bed and rising to his feet shakily, Sasuke quickly scanned the hut for other presences. There were none, and he was rather glad as the cool air brought to his attention that he was standing in some stranger's home very naked.

Heat instinctively rose in his cheeks before he forced the sentiment away into the tiny corner of his mind that all his other unnecessary emotions lurked. Emotional control the way the Hebi Sennin had taught him.

A glint caught his eye, and he turned to stare at his battered chokuto that had survived the years of the Fourth Shinobi World War with him. The blade itself was still as sharp and straight as ever, though the sheathe had obtained a coat of scratches and dents since Orochimaru had given it to him a lifetime ago. The same clothes that he had attacked the Kage Summit with four years ago sat folded underneath his Sword of Kusanagi, the entire bundle perched atop a rickety old chair that had certainly seen better days.

He dressed with all the mechanical speed that a life as a shinobi had engrained in him. _Do not let your guard down more than is necessary. _Not a moment too soon it seemed. As he zipped up his lavender jacket with the Uchiwa fan emblazoned on the back, the door creaked open.

Gaze darting to his audience, he stared down the intruder as he tied his chokuto about his waist and waited for his eyes to adjust to the influx of sunlight.

It was the old grey haired woman from yesterday, followed closely by a younger woman near to the Uchiha's own age with black hair. They both had the same eyes though, and his felt the hairs on the back of his neck instinctively rise. The black haired woman didn't react, but the sardonic curl the old one's lips made suggested that Sasuke's instinctive reaction did not go unnoticed. He automatically sized them up as threats.

The young one seemed more physically powerful, and undoubtedly more agile, but ultimately she lacked the sense of _other _the old one projected. Besides the amber eyes, she came across as human as he himself was. He chalked up the strange coloured irises as resultant from some strange usage of chakra or perhaps a kekkai genkai.

The old one was more dangerous, he subconsciously decided. Because Unlike the young one, she didn't come across as human. Some otherworldly creature that wore the skin of a human being, like Orochimaru had done at the Chuunin Exams nearly a decade ago.

"I see our guest has awoken. Such a handsome young specimen, would you not agree Morrigan?"

"Hush mother, don't embarrass yourself."

"Oh I don't know, I used to turn heads back in the day myself." The old one cackled.

"Mother!" The young one barked.

Sasuke just blinked at the interaction.

"You there! Boy, what's your name?" the old one returned her focus to the Uchiha, smirked in amusement at the way he tensed when her finger pointed at his face.

"_I have no idea what you're saying."_ The shinobi confessed.

"What now?" the young one replied. The old one's eyebrow merely quirked once more.

"_Do you speak my language? I certainly don't speak yours."_ Sasuke tried again.

The young one frowned at him, and the old one bent over cackling with laughter. The Uchiha scowled, his infamous pride stinging. It hadn't really mattered to him before, since she had been laughing at someone else. But now that she was laughing at him,-_An Uchiha!- , _he decided that her screeching was rather annoying and if she didn't _stop _he was going to put a kunai in her throat, gratitude and hidden monstrosity be damned.

Luckily for her, she petered out with one last wheezing chuckle before straightening up and snorting. The young one merely rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, the bracelets and bangles strung along her arms jingling.

"He doesn't speak our language and we certainly don't speak his. No matter, I can still make use of him."

The young one merely made a disbelieving scoff, but quieting down once the old one gave her a look. Turning back to Sasuke, the old woman placed a hand on her bony chest and intoned clearly "Flemeth". Sasuke pursed his lips as he repeated her name back to her, trying several times before he achieved the correct pronunciation. As he prepared to offer his own name in return, Flemeth hushed him before glancing at the young one.

"Do introduce youself daughter."

The young one huffed in annoyance before placing her hand on her own chest and uttering "Morrigan". Sasuke echoed her name back to her, reaching the correct accent with less difficulty than he had with Flemeth's name. After Morrigan nodded her satisfaction to him, he tapped his chest.

"Sasuke."

To his annoyance, they reached the appropriate pronunciation almost immediately. He wondered if they were used to learning new languages. Flemeth just smirked at him before sweeping out the door, stopping on the threshold to toss back "Do feed the boy, Morrigan."

Morrigan growled with annoyance and stomped over to the pot simmering over the fire. Spooning out a bowl before stepping back over to Sasuke, she shoved it into his hands before spinning back to retrieve a bowl for herself. Sasuke, for his part, only prevented the soup spilling all over his newly cleaned and mended clothes through his conditioned reflexes.

Poison didn't concern him after the amount of conditioning and resistance Orochimaru had introduced to his flesh during their time together.

Narrowing his eyes at the young woman, he quickly spooned down the stew before setting the bowl down on the pockmarked table. As rude as she was, he wasn't about to return the favours the two of them had granted him by smashing the bowl into her face.

Sasuke sat quietly and continued to observe his surroundings as Morrigan consumed her own meal at a much more sedate pace. Two staves leaned against the wall by the door, and he wondered what sort of technique would require great wooden sticks.

Snorting in amusement at the thought, the Uchiha decided to give them and whatever strange jutsus they had the benefit of the doubt. He had learned caution after Orochimaru and Itachi had beaten the overconfidence out of him, and he wasn't about to forget that lesson now.

Brought out of his musings by the clink of pottery on wood, he swung his gaze back to Morrigan and watched as the young woman rose to her feet. "Come along then" she spoke quietly, her voice absent of the crankiness it had carried when she was assigned the duty of feeding him. Striding over to the door with his gaze boring into her back, she threw it open and stepped into the sunlight.

Sasuke just smirked. And waited.

Half a minute later she glided back inside to favour him with a glare. Moving slowly, as if he were some particularly stupid creature, she stretched her arm out in his direction with the palm facing up, then curled her fingers slowly before opening them and slowly closing them again. She repeated the motion.

The Uchiha just laughed in her face.

Scowling at the raven, Morrigan spun on the spot and stomped back outside. Leaving Sasuke to shake his head in amusement, push his chair in like a person with manners, and followed the two women into the world outside.

* * *

><p>(AN) Well look at that, what grand fun that was. Two chapters in two days, aren't you guys lucky. I'm really thankful for the reviews that you gave me. I tried to take the advice that Takai gave me in regards to describing the setting, so let me know how that turned out (especially if Takai swings back in to read this again today, since I MIGHT put up another tomorrow IF you're all lucky).

(A/N) This chapter didn't really net a whole lot of changes. Less than the last one did. The more dramatic rewriting probably won't occur for another two chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: I do not own either Naruto or the Dragon Age franchises, or anything pertaining to them.

Yeah, I'm pretty good to you guys. Two chapters written in a day. Read and Review! (The giddy feeling of getting a good review is what motivates me).

"Talking in Ferelden/English" – They're like the same language.

"_Talking in Japanese"_

'_Thinking'_

"**Spells and Jutsus"**

**IF THE ARCHDEMON SPEAKS**

**This is Chapter 3, Version 2.0**

* * *

><p>Alistair crossed his arms and <em>seethed<em>.

He didn't think it was possible to hate anyone as much as he hated Teyrn Loghain. He couldn't believe that the dirty cut-throat bastard had run out on them! What sort of 'hero' left his king, the last legitimate heir to the throne to die on the battlefield? His own son-in-law, no less? Clawing through his short hair angrily, Alistair ground his teeth.

"What the _fuck _am I supposed to do now?"

He'd only been a Warden for six months, he didn't know how to handle a Blight! Yet here he was, miles deep in a blight-ravaged forest with two _maleficarum_ for company. Not for the last time he wished that Ser Jory had survived the Joining, though he would've taken Daveth with open arms at this point. And Duncan-

The Grey Warden cut off that thought ruthlessly. He was the very _last_ of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden. He couldn't afford to let down his guard around two apostate mages with unknown intentions. Even if they _had_ saved his life, they probably only wanted him for- for _stew _or something! '_Best__ not to think on that one, it might give them _ideas _and everyone knows that a _maleficar_ could bend your brain.'_

There would be time for grieving later. Right now he needed to figure out what to do with himself.

Frustrated, Alistair's foot lashed out, kicking a rock into the scummy marsh. He scowled at it absently. At least they hadn't fed him anything_, 'Maker knows what sort of meal they'd come up with in _this_ place.'_

"No, stop complaining! You're a Grey Warden, think about what you should be doing instead of moaning at the world." The Templar trainee muttered to himself. It's not like Duncan told him the standard procedure on how to deal with a Blight… if there actually _was_ a standard procedure. All he really knew was that during the Blights the Grey Wardens would charge valiantly into battle, leading armies by example.

'_Wait, leading armies?'_ he pondered, before his face slackened with realization. Slapping himself on the forehead, Alistair laughed humourlessly. "Of course! The Grey Warden treaties! All I have to do is somehow convince all the people of Ferelden to follow me". Rolling his eyes sarcastically, the warrior snorted. "Yeah, that'll be _real_ easy. I'll just march right in and go 'I AM A GREY WARDEN, FOLLOW ME TO VICTORY'."

Slumping against a nearby tree, the Warden sagged bonelessly to the ground, not caring about the mud splattering his armour. "It's pretty hopeless" he whispered. Alistair briefly entertained the idea of travelling to Orlais to obtain aid from the Grey Wardens there, and maybe the Chevaliers as well. Realizing that by the time he actually reached Orlais and returned; never mind the time to assemble an army, Ferelden would already be overrun. He let go of that last feeble hope.

The only thing left was to defend Ferelden to the death, to destroy as many darkspawn as he could, and hope that Ferelden would buy enough time for the rest of Thedas to end the Blight.

Thus resolved, Alistair lurched to his feet. Brushing as much mud as he could off of his chainmail, the Templar-trainee made the decision to leave as soon as possible. He was alive and his wounds were healed. The Grey Warden treaties were stuffed in his satchel along with his spare socks_ 'You can never have too many socks'_ he grinned.

Turning towards Flemeth's hut, he blinked in surprise as the maleficar strode towards him. Shrugging nonchalantly, he called out "Well, I guess it's time for me to hit the road. Preferably before it gets dark".

The old woman kept coming, long steps eating up the ground until she stood right in front of him.

Staring at him with her too eerie eyes.

"Right, um, so what did you need?" he mumbled, eyes gazing over her shoulder. He'd rather not meet her gaze, since he was already feeling thoroughly creeped out by her.

"There's a boy in the hut. I want you to take him and Morrigan with you." Flemeth stated flatly.

"What? You want me to take a _boy_ and your _daughter _with me?" he yelped in surprise, before shaking his head. "Forgetting that, where did you even _find_ this boy? Did you steal him from some Chasind family or something? And even that, what are you doing with him that you'd need to steal him for anyway?" he rambled. "Ignoring all the shadiness around how you came to be in possession of a child in the first place, you want me to take a kid with me? I'm on a mission to fight darkspawn! I don't have time to play around with some kid."

Flemeth scowled and opened her mouth to argue, but the Warden cut her off. "And let's not even get _started_ on your daughter. She's about as friendly as a rabid dog and probably has a temperament to match. She'd swoop in one the first night we travelled together and turn me into a toad or something! Oh yes, swooping is _bad_. And another thing-"

Alistair's monologue ended abruptly as Flemeth's hand shot out and slapped over his mouth. Frowning darkly at the warrior, she removed her hand slowly. "Listen Warden and listen carefully. First of all, the boy is hardly a child. He is a grown man near your own age."

"He is not my son," she spat out as Alistair's mouth opened, "nor is he some kidnapped Chasind or magical experiment or any other absurd theory of yours that you may concoct. I found him wounded in the woods very recently, only slightly before plucking you off that burning tower at Ostagar and-"

"You found him in the woods?" the Templar-trainee cut in eagerly, "Like a survivor from Ostagar? Is it another Grey Warden? Or maybe the King?" Alistair's voice and face lit up with naked hope.

The apostate merely smiled cruelly. "No, no, and no." she sing-songed. "He doesn't even speak our language and I highly doubt King Cailen was in the habit of hiring mercenaries, much less ones who couldn't even speak Ferelden. As I said, I merely found him wounded in the woods and know next to nothing about him".

Alistair was silent for a long moment, burying his resurrected hope that Duncan or some other Senior Warden had survived and would be able to take control of his mission from him. He had never really aspired to lead and would have been glad to step back.

"I see…" he answered slowly. "So you want me to take this mysterious stranger from some far-away land that neither of us know anything about with me on a mission to fight the Blight and babysit him while I do so?" growled Alistair. "Are you out of your damn mind? Whoever this stranger is, he should be running for the coast and hopping into the first ship that will take him over the sea he can find!"

The two continued to argue heatedly.

* * *

><p>Sasuke stepped out into the sunlight, nose wrinkling at the stinking smell of bog permeated his nostrils. Stretching stiff muscles, he took in his environment and was <em>less<em> than impressed. The hut he had been sleeping in was indeed a hut, built in a muddy hole to rival Amegakure. Directly behind and to the sides grimy, scummy water stretched out into the horizon, broken only by the occasional inlet of trees and ferns. Indeed it was a marsh to rival anything he had ever seen.

The sound of shouting drew his attention, and he looked to see Flemeth in the throes of an argument with a young man wrapped up in a suit of metal. Some type of foreign samurai he assumed, though there was something about him that set off his senses. Some form of taint in his chakra that resembled Orochimaru's curse seal far too closely for his liking, though he doubted the taint was from a similar source.

"You can and you will!"

"No! I refuse!"

"You _owe _me Warden! I saved your life and I saved your precious treaties. Without me there would be no chance to end this Blight!"

"Well I still-!"

Sasuke watched in amusement as the old woman shot the warrior a look that he couldn't see. Whatever was written on her face was obviously intimidating enough as the tall warrior paled and looked as though he might have swallowed his tongue in an effort to stop speaking.

"Well okay then. Whatever you say." The warrior eventually conceded.

Flemeth merely snorted and turned to the Uchiha. Beckoning in a way that did _not_ imply he was a particularly slow or stupid creature, she made plain her desire for him to approach her and the stranger. Shrugging, the raven ambled over to the two, converging with Morrigan halfway until the four stood in a rough circle.

"Introduce yourselves". The old woman uttered dryly.

"Right then," the Warden coughed. "I'm Alistair, a Grey Warden".

Sasuke simply blinked, not understanding in the least.

Flemeth chuckled. "You _do _realize that he doesn't understand a word of that?" Morrigan supplied sarcastically. Alistair flushed and rubbed the back of his neck. Sasuke started at the Naruto-like gesture. "Alistair" he murmured, with a thump of metal –sheathed fist on metal-sheathed chest. "_Your name?" _Sasuke wondered aloud, before jabbing his finger at the warrior and repeating back clearly but slowly "Alistair".

Alistair grinned at the Uchiha. "Now you." He pointed out, not caring about the language barrier. Sasuke quirked a brow at him, but complied: "Sasuke".

"Sauce-gay"? The warrior repeated with disbelief. Morrigan burst out laughing, and both males flushed before sending her heated glares. As the black-haired witch trailed off, she smirked at Sasuke, leaving no doubt in his mind that she was getting her jollies after the stunt he had pulled in the hut. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke repeated his name for Alistair, slower and with more stress on correct pronunciation.

The second time the thoroughly embarrassed Warden repeated it correctly.

"Good." Flemeth commented. "Now that you've met each other, I do think it's time for you to be on your way."

"Oh that is rather sad." Morrigan drawled, "I had so dearly been hoping to make dinner for the Warden".

Alistair gulped nervously "N-no that's really quite alright. It's better than alright. It fan-bloody-tastic." He stuttered, shaking his head for emphasis.

"Oh don't be sad dear, you're going with them! You can do all the cooking your foul little heart desires!" the old woman cackled.

"What?" Morrigan screeched. "Don't be absurd!" Sasuke just crossed his arms as he observed the arguing witches. Alistair paled and took a slow step back.

"They're both insane" the warrior whispered to the raven. "Absolutely nuts!" At Sasuke's curious glance, Alistair repeated "insane" with a finger twirling about his ear and a faux-maddened face that would have made it across any language barrier. The corners of Sasuke's lips curled as he replied _"Yes, I would suspect so"._

"No buts Morrigan. Do as I say." The elder spoke with finality.

Morrigan huffed in reply "Very well." She hurried back into the hut to gather up anything she would end up needing. The other three merely stood outside in silence, one not _wanting_ to talk, one not _able_ to talk, and one too wrapped up in her amusement to _bother_ talking.

The young witch returned shortly afterwards with a satchel tied to her waist and one of the staffs that Sasuke had noticed earlier strapped to her back. "Well let's _go_ Warden, we don't have time to dilly-dally." She growled before setting off into the woods. Alistair started in place before hurrying after.

Sasuke watched the couple go, quite sure they were truly the oddest individuals he had seen in a while. "Do go after them." Flemeth purred at him. The Uchiha simply grunted, not really understanding what she actually wanted him to do.

Then her hand landed on his ass and _squeezed._ Sasuke's eyes widened in shock and he snapped his head towards the old witch. She waggled her eyebrows at him before pointing after the two who had already disappeared over the nearest hill. "Go." She repeated, and the thoroughly violated shinobi took off like Naruto after a bowl of ramen, needing no further encouragement.

The old woman laughed, and called after him "Do come visit sometime!"

He merely ran faster.

* * *

><p>(AN) Well there's another 2000 words. Two Chapters in a day. Aren't I just _grand_. To answer a few of the reviewers:

Marvey&Manda: No, I do not have any plans to ship Sasuke in any permanent pairing. If I were to ship him in this fic, it would only end up as a temporary relationship. Now, I doubt that relationship would be yaoi. Yes, if anyone WERE to participate in a yaoi relationship it would be Zevran (he's already bisexual) and Sasuke (as a shinobi, I doubt he has very many issues), but I'm honestly more inclined to pair Sasuke off in a purely sexual relationship with either Morrigan or Leliana _if I were to pair him off at all._

Darth Lelouch: I suppose theoretically Sasuke could communicate through genjutsu. Though that could never be a permanent solution because for him to communicate effectively out of the wilds he would have to use it ALL THE TIME on everyone around him. And while he might have large chakra reserves, they're not infinite.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I do not own either Naruto or the Dragon Age franchises, or anything pertaining to them.

Eventually I'm going to have to take a break from writing this to play through Dragon Age again, though I should be fine for the next couple of days.

"Talking in Ferelden/English" – They're like the same language.

"_Talking in Japanese"_

'_Thinking'_

"**Spells and Jutsus"**

**IF THE ARCHDEMON SPEAKS**

**This is Chapter 4 Version 2.0**

* * *

><p>When the travelling trio stopped to set up camp for the night, it was with a huff of frustration that Uchiha Sasuke flopped to the grass and stared blankly at the sky. He was not used to walking around with an utterly silent group. Back when he had been on Team 7 Naruto had filled the silence with his inane chatter from dawn to dusk, and his time with Taka had been spent with a loudmouthed Suigetsu who was very similar to a smarter, more bloodthirsty Naruto.<p>

Travelling with Alistair and Morrigan was rather _annoying_. The rarely spoke to each other and never to him. Whenever they _did _speak, it was always a short and confrontational exchange that he could never follow. Sasuke scowled, rolling onto his side and staring into the sputtering campfire that Alistair was struggling to keep burning. The Uchiha started to think he might have to take more _drastic_ measures.

Alistair, for his part cursed and glared at the fire. Just his luck that all the wood in the area would be wet, and Morrigan was certainly not going to give _him_ a hand. The crazy witch had cobbled herself together a tent quite a distance away from the two men, started her own _fire, _and refused to speak another word. The Warden sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Infuriating woman.

The sound of stone scrapping along metal drew him out of his thoughts. He looked over the campfire to see that his _other_ traveling companion had moved from where he had been lazing about in the graze. The man must've dragged a log over from the trees to sit on. He was also sharpening that odd-double edged blade of his with long, slow strokes, which accounted for the scrape of stone-on-metal.

Alistair nodded in approval at the thought, and pulled out his own sword to sharpen it. For slightly longer than a half hour the only sounds in the night were the crackling of the fire, the scraping of the two blades being sharpened, and the quiet breathing the two of them made.

Sasuke finished first, wiping off the blade with one final sweep before sliding the chokuto into its sheathe with a click. Turning his gaze to the other man, he resolved to communicate with him rather than Morrigan. He still didn't entirely trust those strange eyes and the odd air that sometimes coalesced around her.

Alistair noticed the other man finish sharpening his weird sword as the twin sounds of scrapping halved. Sharpening a blade was not something to be rushed though, and he continued alone for another short while. Eventually deeming the sword sharp enough, Alistair dropped the blade back into its scabbard before turning to stare into the fire.

The other guy was staring at him. Slightly odd, but whatever floats the boat he decided.

"_Hey._" Sasuke broke the silence suddenly.

"What?" Alistair spoke reflexively, turning his gaze to the Uchiha in surprise. He had time to notice the strange red and black starburst written into the other man's eyes before the Mangekyo Sharingan slammed passed his mental defences like an ogre punching through a door.

The world swirled away.

* * *

><p><em>Sasuke frowned. Casting that genjutsu was harder than it should have been. Shaking his head, he shoved the thought to the back of his mind. He'd worry about it later, since ultimately his technique had worked in the end and this man was at least nominally an ally. He should probably greet his 'guest' though.<em>

"_Welcome to my world" he uttered blandly._

"_What the fuck is this?" Alistair sputtered back, eyes rolling in slight panic._

"_It's an illusion, now get a grip, usuratonkatchi." Trust and suggestion burrowed through the illusion, cloaking the other man in a mental fuzziness that made him smile goofily._

"_Useless idiot? That just seems so excessive. It's not _my_ fault I was raised in a kennel as a child…" Alistair quipped._

_The Uchiha just stared. Alistair flushed and scratched the back of his head. Then he blinked, "Oh, I can understand you now? How'd you do that?"_

_Sasuke rolled his eyes, "If you're _just _noticing that now I doubt that even I could explain it to you". _

_The Warden frowned at him "Yeah I guess so… wait, did you just call me stupid? That's nice; just pick on the guy raised by great slobbering dogs."_

_Sasuke rubbed his temples in frustration. Alistair was too much like the dobe for comfort at the moment. Finally shaking his head and glaring at the man, Sasuke spat "Can we please just act serious? I don't need to hear about how you were raised by dogs and sold into the circus as a child to be displayed in a freak tent."_

"_Ah carnivals, they always had the best shows when I was a kid…" Alistair sighed wistfully, before sobering and glancing at the raven. "Right, so what did you need?"_

_Sasuke motioned silently in frustration as he attempted to put his thoughts into words. "What's going on out there?" he finally uttered, pressing harder with his subconscious suggestions. "What are you talking about?" Alistair queried. The Uchiha made a wordless growl of frustration._

"_I mean who are _you_? And who is Morrigan? Who or what is Flemeth? Where am I? _When_ am I? Where are we going? Why are you taking me with you? And-"_

"_Whoa now, just hold up. Are you telling me you don't know _anything_?" The Warden asked incredulously. "How did you even get to the middle of the Korcari Wilds and not _know_? No, don't even finish that thought." He shook his head at the raven._

"_First of all, you are in the Kingdom of Ferelden, several leagues south of the village of Lothering to be exact. Ring any bells?" the Uchiha shook his head, and Alistair sighed. "Right. So how long can you keep this up?" _

_Sasuke frowned. "The genjutsu you mean? The technique lasts for three days."_

"_Three days!" The warden yelped, "We can't be in here for three days. We'll starve. Morrigan will kill us and turn us into a meat loaf or something!"_

"_Be quiet usuratonkachi. Three days in here is only a couple of seconds out there." Sasuke snapped his fingers, and two chairs and a table flickered into existence. Ignoring Alistair's curious glance, the Uchiha pushed him into one of the chairs. Taking the opposite seat, and leaning forward until his elbow was positioned firmly on the table, he cradled the side of his face with his hand. "Now talk." He commanded._

"_Right. As I said, you're in Ferelden. In the thirtieth year of the Dragon Age." Sasuke favoured him with a blank look. "Not familiar with the Chantry calendar are you?" the Warden asked. "Not in the least." The raven replied after a brief pausing, deciding the information was worthless to keep secret._

"_The Chantry is the dominant religious organization in Thedas, who educate and guide us according to the teachings and life of the prophet Andraste. Their mission is to spread the Chant of Light to all corners of the World. Once all people have accepted the teachings of the Chantry the Maker will return to the world and create a paradise." Alistair rambled. Sasuke thought it sounded slightly foolish, but it was hardly his responsibility to judge the religious inclinations of others._

"_So, who are you then?" Sasuke finally cut in, steering the conversation back on track._

"_You already know my name. I'm Alistair. I'm also a Grey Warden". That's not all he was, if the unconscious twitch of his hands was anything to go by, Sasuke decided. Not a lie, but not the whole truth either._

"_I see" Sasuke drawled. "And what is a 'Grey Warden'?" Alistair looked shocked for a moment, before remembering that his audience was a foreigner who apparently had never even heard of Ferelden before._

"_Well. The Grey Wardens are an ancient, like really, really old, organization of fighters from all over Thedas. Their purpose is to fight the darkspawn. They have headquarters all over Thedas and take in recruits without regard for social, national, or racial status."_

_Sasuke pursed his lips, before continuing his questions. "And darkspawn?"_

_A shadow passed over Alistair's face and his voice dropped. "Inhuman monsters really. Tainted creatures that only want to destroy and twist all other living things. They primarily live underground, digging around in the dark until the find and corrupt one of the Old Gods. Once they do, the Old God transforms into an Archdemon and leads the Darkspawn Horde in a campaign of extermination against the surface. That's what we up here call a 'Blight'."_

"_Hn." The Uchiha was silent for a long moment. "So I assume that as a Grey Warden, you're going to be fighting against this Blight?"_

"_Yeah." The Warden answered._

_The two men stared at each other, before Sasuke broke the silence. "So why are you taking me with you?"_

_A frown rippled across Alistair's face, confusion and disbelief. "You know it's kinda odd that I'm telling you all this."_

_Sasuke grunted and flared his chakra, strengthing the Tsukiyomi's blinkering of the man's mental faculties. It was almost unheard of for him to have to reinforce the illusion, because usually only another Sharingan user had the ability or inclination to push back against the technique. For the Warden to begin shredding the mental bindings revealed a deeper talent. "That's not important." the Uchiha soothed the other man when he began smiling blandly again. "Why am I being brought along with you?"_

"_Flemeth asked me to. And to be honest I need everyone I can get to help me against the Blight." A flash of pain appeared in his eyes, poignant enough to almost make Sasuke give him a sympathetic look. "I'm the last Grey Warden in Ferelden" the Templar-trainee continued._

"_The last?" Sasuke barked sharply, "I assume the others all died very recently; unless the Grey Wardens are__ an extremely understaffed organization"._

"_Oh don't get me wrong" Alistair nodded, "The Grey Wardens _are _extremely understaffed. But there were a few of us, but all the rest died at Ostagar. King Cailin had assembled an army to fight the __darkspawn, and we were all gathered at Ostagar. It's a really old fortress that Ferelden originally built to repel bandit raids."_

"_Anyway," Alistair muttered. "The basic plan for the battle was to have King Cailin and the Grey Wardens down at the front, and I was supposed to climb to the top of the Tower of Ishal to light a beacon so that the reinforcements would know it was time to charge. But when I got to the tower, darkspawn had tunneled up from the Deep Roads and overrun the tower. Eventually, I managed to fight my way to the top and light the beacon…"_

"_But reinforcements didn't come." Sasuke guessed._

_The Warden frowned "Exactly. Teryn Loghain was supposed to lead them in, but instead he turned and ran. Without reinforcements all the other Wardens and the King were slaughtered. I collapsed from wounds on top of the tower. And when I work up it was to Flemeth's ugly mug telling me we had lost the battle and apparently she rescued me off the top of the tower, prevented me from being disemboweled by darkspawn."_

"_Which brings us to our last point," the Uchiha concluded with narrowed eyes. "Morrigan."_

"_Bleh." Alistair moaned. "Yeah, I really don't have any idea what _her_ deal is. Apparently she's Flemeth's daughter, and Flemeth forced me to take her with me. She's an apostate, and probably a maleficar as well."_

"_Apostate?" Sasuke asked, quirking his brow. "Mmhmm." Alistair replied. "The Chantry teaches us that magic was made to serve man, never to rule over him." Sasuke's faced developed an incredulous look at the idea of "magic", though he motioned for the Templar-trainee to continue. "Mages are taught to live and practice their magic within the Circles of Magi, but a mage who chooses to disobey the Chantry and practice outside the Circles is called an apostate."_

"_Among other things, Blood Magic is considered forbidden by the Chantry. Anyone who practices any of the forbidden schools of magic is deemed a maleficar. Both apostates and maleficarum are hunted by the military arm of the Templars, which I was in training to be before Duncan recruited me"._

_Sasuke chewed his lip for a moment before laying out his theory. "I would hypothesize that Morrigan was sent with you for some unknown mission that Flemeth entrusted her with, and that I was just made to tag along as extra protection, to ensure that both of you, or at least she survives. Now, I would guess that Morrigan herself is probably simply a maleficar-"_

"Simply_ a maleficar he says" Alistair chortled._

"_Simply a maleficar," Sasuke emphasized with a glare, "But Flemeth herself is probably not human." _

_That sobered the Warden up. "Seriously? Like a demon or something?"_

"_Like a demon or something." Sasuke confirmed. "I don't trust her, so this talk and this technique are going to remain between us, _am I understood_?" he finished with a growl._

"_Yeah, yeah, of course" Alistair agreed flippantly. "Though you will have to explain how you can suddenly speak our language."_

_Sasuke's lip curled in amusement. _

"_I'm not speaking your language, usuratonkachi. _You're speaking mine_."_

_The illusion burst like a soap bubble._

* * *

><p>"Gah! Warn a guy will you!" the Templar-trainee complained, shaking his head in an attempt to rid himself of the disorientation following the technique. The Uchiha gave him a glacial glare that quite simply told him to shut up. Then Sasuke reached his hand to wipe off the blood trickling from his right eye, flicking it into the fire with a sneer, where it sizzled.<p>

"Fire." The Warden uttered absently, the odd tickle in the back of his mind fading away. The raven gave him a curious look, to which Alistair waggled his sandy-eyebrows flamboyantly.

"Fire." He repeated, pointing at the flames.

"Fire." The Uchiha returned uncertainly, before pointing at the flames and repeating questioningly "Fire?"

The Templar-trainee grinned like a fool, and thus began the first of what would be Sasuke's many lessons in learning the language of the land he now found himself in.

* * *

><p>(AN) 2200 words. Technically my longest chapter so far.

In regards to chapter length, yes they're going to get longer. It honestly would not surprise me if eventually they're hitting like 10000 words or more per chapter.

The reason that the current chapters are so short is 1) The current scenes are very self-contained. Later on I might bundle up the entirety of their adventure in Redcliffe/The Circle/whatever as one long-ass chapter, but the scene at Flemeth's hut is short in the game and thus it's short here as well. There really is no way to drag that scene out unless I do some ridiculous details/conversations that would just clutter it up and disrupt the story flow.

Reason 2) is simply that this is the first thing I've written creatively under my own initiative is about four years. All my creative writing that I've done over that period has just been school related. I'm really just getting back into the flow of things (which is why I'm loving reviews so much), and keeping up the steam is a trial.

Therefore, my fair warning to you is that the group will be hitting up Lothering next chapter or the chapter after that. I'm mulling over whether I should do the scene with the dog, so that the dog is going to be a companion or not. I'm inclined to, so Lothering will probably be Chapter 6. And THAT chapter will probably be longer than the rest put together, so don't expect it for a few weeks. If I do the Mabari chapter, it should be kicking by the end of the week.

**Update notes:**

My initial intent was the switch the people involved in this conversation from Sasuke and Alistair to Sasuke and Morrigan, but I didn't really get that feel. So I played with the conversation between the two. I put in the premise that Sasuke is taking advantage of Tsukiyomi to basically bend Alistair's mind and instill trust.

I realize as Shikansen said "Alistair (who's not really THAT open-minded) was utterly unconcerned with what (to him) must have been a maleficar (Sasuke), trapping him in his mind and questioning him, while all the while expressing his doubts about Morrigan.". So keep in mind that at this point Alistair is still a rather naive fellow, trusting, and unused to leading. Over the story I will harden him, and there will quite probably be a confrontation later on when he realizes that his and Sasuke's initial interactions were based on coercion and deception – in fact it may even split the group until Sasuke can find some proper way to express an apology. As for Sasuke's motivations in this, he's still very much an unsympathetic bastard. He sees no problem planting suggestions of trust in Alistair because he can shrug and say it's non-harmful. Skewed morality friends.

But as for forced dialogue, after this I find myself disagreeing. With one partner digging for information in a new world, he's likely to do his best to take advantage of a source. And with the other chakra duped, he's likely to be glad to launch into exposition.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: I do not own either Naruto or the Dragon Age franchises, or anything pertaining to them.

I spent like five hours playing Dragon Age yesterday. The good news is I have some ideas on how the group is going to end up dealing with the whole Zathrian-vengeance issue. The bad news is that my save file was quite a few hours past Lothering (The Arl of Redcliffe is the only storyline not complete AKA The Urn of Sacred Ashes). Which is my third playthrough I think. I DO have another character that is my fourth playthrough, which is rather luckily in the Korcari Wilds to prepare for the Joining.

I guess I'll have to play and write concurrently.

Decisions, decisions.

Here is the Dog, as I promised.

"Talking in Ferelden/English" – They're like the same language.

"_Talking in Japanese"_

'_Thinking'_

"**Spells and Jutsus"**

**IF THE ARCHDEMON SPEAKS**

**This is Chapter 5, Version 2.0**

* * *

><p>'<em>Inhuman monsters really.'<em>

That, Sasuke decided, was certainly a very apt description of the creatures he was looking at. Their shapes were humanoid enough, but their hides were scaly and pitted. Cruel yellow fangs dripped black bile as the leader roared furiously at the intrepid travellers. His eyes glittered with bloodlust at the prospect of more prey, hands dripping blood that had undoubtedly come from the unlucky group of refugees splattered along the dusty road.

The Uchiha's lip curled in disgust. Vengeance and necessity he could understand, but such base and wanton slaughter was far beneath anything civilized.

Then Alistair was rushing by him with a shout of rage and a clank of steel, bringing his sword to bear on the leader, who met him halfway, swords skittering sparks as they clashed.

Drawing his own chokuto with a hiss, and crossing the distance to the combatants in a flash, Sasuke joined the fray. His blade thrusting out and stabbing into the neck of the second of five darkspawn warriors, the point of his chokuto exited out the other side of the beast's throat.

Sasuke watched dispassionately as his first kill in the foreign land he was stranded in collapsed to the ground with a gurgle.

Not to be outdone, Alistair bashed his shield into the leader's face, before taking advantage of the darkspawn's momentary disorientation to decapitate it with a shout of triumph.

Turning to a new foe, he barely had time to point his blade at the third darkspawn before it froze into an icy statue. Used to fighting around mages, the Warden barely twitched before kicking out with a plated boot and shattering the darkspawn icicle into frozen chunks. He gave a curt nod to Morrigan.

Sasuke engaged the fourth of the darkspawn as Alistair came to blows with the fifth. Rebounding off the nearby fence of some long-fled farmers field, Sasuke planted his foot into the fourth darkspawn's face.

Landing in a crouch as the darkspawn snarled in pain, he rose to his feet with a backhand slash, bisecting the creature from bottom to top, spilling its entrails into the dirt.

Spinning to reinforce his erstwhile ally, the Uchiha couldn't help but blink in surprise as a huge furry animal lunged out of the ditch along the side of the road.

The shaggy beast took a running leap onto the last darkspawn's back, bringing it to the ground in a screech , before fastening its jaws onto the back of the creature's neck and snapping it with a twist of its head.

"What a good doggy. Who's a good boy?" Alistair automatically cooed, as if the blood splattering him and the road around him and the beast in front of him weren't even there.

The creature, for its part, barked happily before licking the Warden's outstretched hand.

The Uchiha was pretty sure at this point it was a dog, given the chance to really look at the beast. It rather resembled one of Kakashi's ninken, if his memory served him correctly.

Though he doubted _this_ dog could speak.

"Picking up strays are we know Alistair? Birds of a feather flock together I suppose." Morrigan drawled, lips twitched into a condescending sneer.

"Indeed." The Warden agreed faux-obliviously, "You're just like your mother after all".

"I am not!" the Witch sputtered indignantly.

Ignoring her, Alistair turned back to the Mabari hound with a thoughtful look on his face. "Now what should we call you?"

The Warden snapped his fingers. "I know! Let's call you Brandel. I do sincerely hope that you bear that name to a greater end than the last person to have been called that did." The mabari huffed in agreement, before trotting over to examine Alistair's companions.

Huffing around Morrigan's skirt, the Witch's face twisted in annoyance, but she allowed the hound to imprint her scent into his memory. "That's Morrigan" the Grey Warden supplied.

Barking in understanding, the Mabari sat down on his haunches and whined at the apostate. "Oh shoo! I'm not going to pet you." Morrigan replied.

Whining again, the dog rose to his feet before padding over to Sasuke. Whining at the raven this time, the Mabari repeated the motions he had already performed with Morrigan. Rolling his eyes, the raven acquiesced and gave the dog a short scratch behind the ears.

He could just imagine Pakkun growling _"Don't you want to pet a cute pup like me?" _

Brandel barked at the Uchiha happily, and with a grin of his own Alistair provided "That's Sasuke. He's a lot cooler than Morrigan". The apostate just snorted contemptuously at the snub. Loping back over to the Warden, the mabari wagged his tail.

"Well I guess this little guy's coming with us. Isn't that right doggy?" Happy bark.

"If you insist Warden…" A sad whine.

"Sasuke."

"Hn?"

"His name's Brandel." Pointing at the dog, he repeated the name for emphasis. Morrigan just tapped her foot.

"Yes." The Uchiha acknowledged.

"Can we just go already?" The witch finally growled, to which Alistair sighed in annoyance before protesting "At the least we should cremate the bodies, so the humans can go to the Maker and the darkspawn can't spread the taint."

Throwing her hand out, Morrigan conjured a series of fireballs which quickly reduced the corpses to ash.

Sasuke watched her 'magic' surreptitiously, quickly deciding that whatever technique it was, it was certainly something worth investigating.

After giving the dead refugees a moment of silence, the Warden turned and hiked off down the road, with his new mabari hound following along at his heels. Morrigan quickly set off after him, leaving the Uchiha to scrutinize the ashes for a moment, attempting to glean some clue about the witch's 'magic', before ambling after the other two.

* * *

><p>"<em>We're going to be in Lothering tomorrow." The Warden offered immediately when the Sharingan's mental digging tightened around his mind.<em>

"_Oh?" The Uchiha huffed, still focused on weaving the illusion. Colour washed in, filling up the eerie black and white that had defined everything about Sasuke personal world. With a twist of chakra, the red sky burst into blue and the cold moon lit up into a warm sun. Willing the now familiar wooden table and chair set into being, the raven spun one around and sat on it backwards, arms crossed over the back of the chair._

"_Do you mind giving us some trees too? That'd be grand." Alistair quipped. Glaring at the Templar-trainee, Sasuke willed a spattering of trees into being, before gouging the formerly featureless plain into a series of hills and valleys._

"_Anything else, your majesty?" the shinobi asked sarcastically. _

"_A spot of tea would do very nicely." The Warden offered, affecting a nasally voice with a snotty drawl._

"_Of course" the ninja answered with false humbleness. A ceramic china set clattering into existence on the table, and the two men each poured themselves a cup before taking small sips. Sasuke watched his 'guest' through his lashes. The drinks; like everything else in his landscape, had a purpose. And by willingly ingesting the constructed substance, Alistair's mind grew even more susceptible to the Uchiha's influence._

"_Not bad that. Never had any quite like this before though." The Warden offered, in reference to the tea, which sent warm tingles of contentment down his gut. What a friend the new fellow was turning out to be... _

"_Hnn." The raven replied, before continuing. "It's a green tea blend that is…_was _popular where I grew up as a child."_

_The two sat in silence for a long moment, before Alistair broke it by sighing. "Alright, so Lothering. We'll probably hit the village early in the morning. It's a pretty traditional farming community. A few families, a small inn, one church, and maybe a merchant or two- the whole rustic cliché. I say we go in, see what the rumours are, maybe stock up on a little bit of food, and get out. After that I think we should head up to Redcliffe."_

"_If what you're telling me about this _Teyrn_ Loghain is true," Sasuke uttered blankly, "Then I wouldn't put it past him to have set some form of a trap in the village. The man is apparently ruthless, cunning, and politically connected. Right to the very throne, I suppose. And any smart man in that position is not going to leave the first stop of anyone fleeing the battle untouched for his political rivals."_

"_You really think so?" The Warden asked, startled. The shinobi just frowned at him. "I think it's patently obvious. He is guilty of, as you say, treasonous cowardice and possibly regicide. The only people who are __going to know any differently are anyone who was at the battle. His men can be convinced it was the only tactically sound decision to make, and therefore won't tattle, but anyone of the King's men who survived are going to claim differently. Of those men, only the Grey Wardens could be organized enough to offer him a serious political challenge. The man's probably gone and declared himself regent by now."_

"_Well shit," the blonde muttered, "then what should we be doing?"_

_Sasuke snorted. "Why, we go to Lothering of course." _

_Alistair raised a brow at the younger man. "Didn't you just _say _it was a trap?"_

"_So I did." The Uchiha conceded. "But at the same time, you cannot avoid politics forever. And the longer you withhold your appearance, the longer Loghain is going to have to slander you. The more you delay, the tougher its going to be to go against him. And while I'm confident in my ability to _remove_ him if I need to, doing so would spark all sorts of rumours about murder unfavourable to you or your cause."_

_Thoughtful, the Grey Warden frowned. "So it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't deal. I should have known."_

"_You must be absolutely perfect." Sasuke continued. "The only way to counter the rumours he's going to spread about you is to be the perfect knight. Gallant and courageous, morally upright and honourable. Loghain is a national hero, but as a traitor he's bound to slip up sooner or later. The more he slips, the more doubt that is going to cast on him. But people will only doubt him so long as you appear to be the attractive alternative."_

_Alistair smirked. "You're actually pretty good at this whole politics deal."_

"_I am." Sasuke accepted the compliment blandly, burying the sting of his father's lessons in the back of his mind., "But your road in life is going to demand that you grow to be just as good. You don't have the luxury or fortune to remain as a follower any longer. You're the Last Grey Warden. And the challenges you face because of that are going to be great. As the last, you're going to have to be better, faster, stronger, and smarter than the rest."_

_A sputtering blonde could only offer him a horrified look. "Are you crazy? I can't do all that!"_

"_You can and you will," Sasuke countered mercilessly. "This is the only way for you to win. Now tell me, why do you want to go to this Redcliffe after Lothering?"_

"_The man in charge of the land, Arl Eamon, is a good and respected man. He can help us. And if he knew what Loghain did, he wouldn't stand for it." _

"_So he is… politically connected?"_

"_Well yeah, I suppose" The Templar-trainee agreed. "I never really thought of that, to be honest."_

"_Well you're going to have to _start_ thinking about that." The Uchiha commanded, demanding trust and obedience through his power of suggestion. "Loghain is a man of power, and only a man of power is going to destroy him. Gather enough political power behind you, and you can achieve almost anything."_

* * *

><p>Alistair groaned, rubbing at his eyes, before muttering "My head hurts." Stomping over to his tent, he turned to the shinobi and growled "Two". Before crawling into the shelter and dozing off almost immediately.<p>

_Wake me in two hours._

The Uchiha interpreted. Glancing about the campsite, he confirmed Morrigan's similar state of unconsciousness. His Sharingan detected some current of energy spun about her tent like a spiders web, and was content to assume that it was some form of alarm system.

Turning to face the fire, Sasuke crouched before biting his thumb and formed a series of hand seals. Slamming his palm to the ground, he completed the summoning technique.

Nothing occurred, and the raven frowned at the unpleasant implications. A whine distracted him, and he watched as the mabari hound tramped over to his side before flopping to the ground with a quiet sigh.

"_I'm an awfully long way from home."_ He murmured to the hound.

* * *

><p>(AN) Just over 2000 words for this one. A couple of things before I sign off. As I said, I'll be playing and writing concurrently. So I'll play a scene, or part of one, and then write about it. So that will take a little bit of work. This is really the end of what I'm comfortable winging off of memory.

I put a poll up in my profile about the future of this fic, so do me a favour a vote in it. And no, my name is not Wade. Anyone who has played Dragon Age Awakening should know where the reference is from.

To anyone not in the know, the dog's name is a reference to "Brandel the Defeated", who was the King that lost Ferelden to Orlais. Brandel's daughter was "Moira the Rebel Queen", mother of "Maric the Saviour" (who freed Ferelden), who is King Cailin's father. That's why Alistair hopes Dog does the name better than its previous owner.

I don't usually spoiler stuff, but to all you worry-warts, YES. YES I will recruit all possible companions. Even Shale. They're all important characters who contribute to the storyline and thus they will all be recruited.

Read and Review, and go vote too!

**Update Notes:**

Hello again friends. Seems I finally got off my ass and did the revisions. There was a good deal less than I expected to have to do, since I didn't cut Alistair and Sasuke time so much as twist it in a sinister hypnosis way.

Anyone reading this is probably going to glad to know that I've gone and slated everything I have for work. So this isn't on the back-burner anymore, per se. It still depends on if I have time to go and play Origins as I write this, but you can probably expect that when I'm working on Highever, this is also not fair from my mind.

One thing that I can't find a specific person for but which I know was brought up. Sasuke's power level vis a vis the power levels of the Darkspawn. Yes, I will account for balance. The first battle was easy because these are little grunt darkspawn, and were dispatched pretty easily by everyone involved. However, as we get into bigger and badder darkspawn – they won't be so easy to cut, and their skin won't burn so easily... Also keep in mind human enemies like Templars who will shrug off a good chunk of chakra attacks, and mages that will hit back harder. Sasuke's Mangekyo are the big guns, but they're also a terrible drain. He's not Madara any time soon, I promise that.


	6. Author Note

**Author Note:**

Before any of you guys freak out, no I am NOT going to discontinue Dragon of Beauty. This story WILL be finished. Eventually. Unless I die in a freak accident. But let's not talk about that.

I'd like to set this out pretty straight. This story will likely be a long length. Probably in excess of 200,000 words. Because of that, I'll be playing a Dragon Age save file concurrently when I do write this.

You guys have probably been pretty starved if you haven't been paying attention to my other work. I've been very busy writing "Chasing Yesterday", which is my main focus before any other form of work. Sorry for those who've been waiting patiently for updates.

Or the long and short of that: This story is on hiatus until at least the end of Chasing Yesterday. After that, it's up in the air what I'll pick up. I might play with "The General" or "The White Snake" or even this, but most likely "Rokudaime" (which will probably just be a collection of edited and fleshed out flashback scenes from Chasing Yesterday).

When I do pick this back up, **Shinkansen**'s reviews concerning characterization and a few plot issues have convinced me to rewrite this. Don't freak about that though, it'll take me like a day or two. They're only going to be cosmetics really to close those gaps. It's not more than twisting in a couple paragraphs here and there, fixing up some grammar and spelling while I'm at it.

So don't kill him about it.

Until next time,

**The King in White**


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